Mountain West foes will collide when the San Jose State Spartans (6-13) play the New Mexico Lobos (10-8) at San Jose State Event Center. Action begins at 5:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 23 and can be seen on CI.
The Spartans are hoping to rebound after their 94-69 loss to Boise State on Wednesday. Ryan Welage was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points. The Lobos, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their close 70-68 loss against Wyoming on Saturday. Tim Williams had a team-high 17 points.
Welage has taken his game to another level over the last five games for the Spartans. During that stretch, he has averaged 19.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 3.0 three-pointers.
New Mexico takes on San Jose State as a seven-point favorite. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 151 points. While the Spartans haven’t been very good Straight Up (SU) (6-13), they’ve been better Against The Spread (ATS) with a 10-6 record.
As for their opponent, the Lobos have records of 8-7 ATS and 10-8 SU. The Lobos convert their shots at a high percentage, ranking 44th in the country at .470. Shifting to the other side of the court, the Lobos have one of the best opponent three-point field goal percentages in the country at .309.
The conference foes meet for what will be their first head-to-head battle of the season. New Mexico won the last game in the matchup, bumping its SU record to 3-0. With a 2-1 record, the Lobos also have the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – NM, ATS Winner – NM, O/U – Over
Notes
San Jose State is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Jose State’s last 5 games.
San Jose State is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing New Mexico.
In its last game, San Jose State lost by a margin of 25 points. New Mexico is 5-2 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. San Jose State has a 2-3 record in blowouts.
With 72.3 possessions and 1.025 points per possession, the San Jose State Spartans perform worse on both metrics than the New Mexico Lobos. New Mexico averages 73.1 possessions and 1.049 points per possession.
New Mexico has an average effective field goal percentage of 52.1%. San Jose State is a subpar 1-7 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
San Jose State attempts an average of 22.0 three pointers per game and New Mexico attempts 16.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the San Jose State Spartans have a poor 3-10 record while the New Mexico Lobos have a 3-2 record.
San Jose State ranks 192nd in offensive rebounds, while New Mexico ranks 66th in defensive rebounds.
San Jose State has forced an average turnover percentage of 17.9% this season. New Mexico is an even 6-6 when its TO% is 17.9% or higher.
